R -v- M, Luton Crown Court, 2024
About
Misconduct in public office involving a police officer.
We represent the defendant at Luton Crown Court. It was a high profile case that attracted media attention. It was alleged that the defendant was obtaining highly sensitive information from a serving police officer to check vehicles he was renting out through his company. The vehicles linked to the defendant were suspected of being involved in drug supply so the checks were to establish whether there was intelligence linked to criminal activity. This occurred over a significant period of time and was investigated by anti-corruption department.
Result
We submitted an application to dismiss. The charges were subsequently withdrawn.
R -v- B, K and S, Southwark Crown Court, 2023
About
We represented 3 out of 7 defendants in a multi-handed conspiracy to steal, pervert the course of justice and transfer or conceal criminal property. This case received significant nationwide media attention and involved a sophisticated, well planned operation to steal £920,000 from a cash in transit security van. It was alleged that all the defendants conspired with the "inside man" working as a cash-in-transit driver to steal a significant amount of money.
A staged robbery was carried out, where masked robbers were seen on CCTV approaching the suspect at his doorstep and threatening him with a firearm. He was instructed to attend a location to drop the money. The case rested heavily on phone evidence and "burner" phones allegedly used by the defendants. We represented one defendant who was alleged to have crushed the vehicles working in car removals, another defendant who was said to have arranged for a staging address to be used prior to the commission of the offence, as well as another individual said to have helped prior to and after the event. We managed to establish flaws in the Prosecution case.
Result
All 3 defendants represented by us were acquitted after a lengthy trial.
R -v- M, Snaresbrook Crown Court, 2023
About
The Defendant was part of a multi-handed conspiracy to steal motor vehicles. Numerous high value vehicles totaling approximately £1.5million were stolen over the period of a year and then sold onto unsuspecting customers. This was a very sophisticated operation where false registration documents were obtained and alterations made to the chassis number with cloned vehicle registration numbers. The Defendant was a key and lock specialist that the Prosecution said was employed in order to assist in the theft by way decoding the locks and security system in order to gain access. This was well established and long entrenched conspiracy. After we made representations, at the commencement of the trial, the case against the Defendant was dropped.
Result
The case against the Defendant was dropped and not guilty verdicts recorded.
R -v- P, St Albans Crown Court, Conspiracy to Steal Motor Vehicles, 2021
About
Defendant was charged with conspiracy to steal high-value motor vehicles by way of keyless thefts. It was alleged that him and others were carrying out a sophisticated and organised operation using high-tech equipment to carry out these thefts to acquire the high-value vehicles. This case rested strongly on call data, ANPR and CCTV in order to locate the defendants and the vehicles that were used in convoy from the crime scene. We instructed our own cell site expert in order to cast doubt on the reliability of the Crown's case and the phone data they provided. We were able to establish that the evidence was unreliable with respect to certain incidents when vehicles were stolen. In light of our report and representations, the CPS agreed to withdraw key parts of the case.
Result
This was resulted in the client pleading guilty on a limited basis and avoiding a custodial sentence.
R -v- V, Southwark Crown Court, theft from employer, 2019
About
This was a high-profile case which received significant media attention. An established large charitable organisation had been defrauded of approximately £1 million pound over a period of several years. The crowns case was that the defendant created false invoices and transferred significant sums on a regular basis by disguising the transactions as legitimate. The investigation was extensive with thousands of pages of evidence. It involved a paper trail of bank statements and accounts dating back several years. The defence instructed a forensic accountant to advance their case. The matter proceeded to confiscation where the crown sort to recover in the region of £1 million.
Result
After representations and submissions from the defence the defendant did not have to pay anything.
R -v- T, Snaresbrook Crown Court, Perverting the Course of Justice, 2018
About
This was an extremely high-profile case that received significant national media attention. The case related to the tampering of electronic monitoring equipment (Home detention curfew) by staff members who were entrusted in installing the equipment for convicted criminals. It was claimed that the staff members were paid cash in order to remove the equipment without detection. The case was extremely complicated in that it relied on complex scientific evidence to prove the reliability of the monitoring equipment. There was also thousands of pages of phone evidence and statements that sought to place the defendants at various locations and in communication with the staff members. We were able to cast doubt on the reliability of the equipment.
Result
The Defendant was found not guilty after a 7-week trial.
R -v- B, St. Albans Crown Court, Conspiracy to Burgle, 2018
About
The Defendant was charged with conspiracy to burgle a home, stealing cash and high value jewellery valuing over £120,000. The Defendants were traced via an extensive investigation including telephone evidence, ANPR of the vehicles used and CCTV. We were able to establish that it was not a genuine burglary and that the Defendant was actually recruited by the householder to stage a burglary in order to perpetrate an insurance fraud.
Result
The Defendant was acquitted after a trial.
R -v- C, Southwark Crown Court, Conspiracy to Steal, 2016
About
The Defendant was accused of being part of a hundred-strong gang who frequented designer stores in central London stealing thousands of pounds worth of designer clothes.
The case rested strongly on CCTV evidence from various stores in London. The Defence instructed a leading CCTV and facial mapping expert to prove that the identification was incorrect.
Result
The CPS discontinued the case before trial and the Defendant was found not guilty.
R -v- B, Chelmsford Crown Court, Theft from Employer, 2015
About
The case involved a cash in transit courier, an employee of G4S. The Defendant was accused of stealing in excess of £800,000 whilst delivering cash to banks and retailers.
The Defendant maintained that on the night before the incident gunmen forced their way into his home and threatened to hurt his family unless he delivered the next day's takings to a specific location. On the day in question the defendant carried out his duties as normal, collecting cash, before driving to a remote layby and pushing bags with cash out of his vehicle.
The prosecution alleged that the defendant was not a victim of crime but, in fact, was the perpetrator. The case involved a lengthy and complex forensic investigation with the assistance of G4S. The Prosecution sought to completely discredit the defendant's version of events. The prosecution claimed that the defendant could not have dropped the money at the location he gave to the police due to discrepancies in his story and the time log on the van's tracking system. They asserted that he had lied about the location to throw the police off guard, to enable his accomplices to make off without detection. The evidence relied on included numerous pages of the tracking and GPS data from the G4S van, as well as expert reports and a video reconstruction of the incident.
We instructed our own security expert which was able to completely undermine the manner in which the data had been collated, interpreted and presented by G4S. A psychologist instructed by us was able to refute claims made by the Prosecution regarding the Defendant's behaviour and inconsistent accounts after the event.
Result
The case received national media attention. Following a two week trial the defendant was acquitted by the jury.
R -v- M, Portsmouth Crown Court, Conspiracy to Steal and Acquisition of Criminal Property, 2015
About
This was an extensive police operation that involved numerous defendants. The case rested on a vast array of evidence including CCTV at numerous locations and a significant amount of telephone and cell site evidence.
The case involved the large-scale theft of power tools. Goods valued at approximately £250,000 were seized by the police. The defendant was accused of conspiracy to steal the goods and acquiring criminal property by virtue of the significant sums of monies deposited in his account.
Result
We were able to secure an acquittal on the day of trial.
